2018 Church Unity

Cluny Sisters’

‘Cor Unum et Anima Una!’

  

Week of

Prayer

for

Christian

Unity  

January 18 - January 25

  

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has a history of 100 years in which Christians around the world have taken part in an octave of prayer for visible Christian unity.  By annually observing the ‘Unity Octave’, Christians move toward the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer at the Last Supper:

"that they all may be one."

(John 17:21)

  

The focus this year is on the Christians of the Caribbean and the journey of many people for freedom from enslavement.  As Cluny Sisters, we are one in heart and mind in support of our sisters and the peoples they serve around the world and, during this Unity Octave, with the Clunys in the Caribbean.

The theme for the 2018 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “Your Right Hand, O Lord, Glorious in Power,” is taken from the book of Exodus 15:6 and the ‘Song of Miriam’. The resources for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have been prepared by the churches of the Caribbean.  The contemporary Caribbean is deeply marked by the dehumanizing project of colonial exploitation.

As we pray for unity and freedom from exploitation we unite with our Cluny Sisters in Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica Haiti and Cuba.

Together We Call Upon the Holy Spirit

With the Christians of the Caribbean, let us call upon the Holy Spirit to set our hearts on fire as we pray for the unity of the Church.  Unite your servants in the bond of unity.

Teach us to pray.                         Come, Holy Spirit!

Liberate us from the slavery of sin.Come, Holy Spirit!

Help us in our weakness.              Come, Holy Spirit!

Restore us as your children.          Come, Holy Spirit!

Together We Ask for Reconciliation

We have not received a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Let us call upon the mercy of God, confident in the saving power of God’s Right Hand, we pray:

From structures that undermine human dignity and enforce new forms of enslavement, deliver us, O God. 

                                                  Lord, Have Mercy!

From decisions and deeds that impose poverty and discrimination on our brothers and sisters, deliver us, O God.
                                                  Lord, Have Mercy!

From the fear and suspicion that separate us from each other and place limits on hope and healing, deliver us, O God.
                                                  Lord, Have Mercy!

The Lord is our strength and our might, and has become our salvation. May God, who has redeemed us, lead into the abode of holiness.  Amen.

United in the charism of our Foundress, Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey, a spirit of freedom and liberation, we are sent to Evangelize and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Together We Go Forth

Redeemed by God’s Right Hand and united in the One Body of Christ, we pray:

  The Spirit of the Lord is upon us,,

  because the Lord has anointed us
  to bring good news to the poor.
  to proclaim release to the captives
  and recovery of sight to the blind,
  to let the oppressed go free,
  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
                                                       Amen! Alleluia!

For more about the 2018 Week of Church Unity go to:

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/ecumenical-and-interreligious/events/week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity.cfm

Interested in the Cluny Sisters in the Caribbean go to:

West Indies - http://sj-cluny.org/West-Indies?lang=fr

Haiti - http://sj-cluny.org/Haiti-354?lang=fr

Cuba - http://sj-cluny.org/Peru-Cuba-437?lang=fr

MLK Day 2018

Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 15, 2018
  

  
One of the greatest Americans, Martin Luther King Jr. had a DREAM, a dream of unity, equality and justice that includes and embraces the dignity of all peoples.  As a Christian minister, he lived, wrote and spoke Jesus’ Gospel Message:

    ‘Let us Love one Another’

As Americans, we join together to celebrate and honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his life’s message by continuing to serve one another and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We continue to unite and strive to treat all with equality and justice.  Let us, too, renew our commitment to live the Gospel of Jesus and love one another without distinction.

Jan 2018 Stop Trafficking!

During the month of January, dedicated to Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention, you can be:
    
...the eyes to spot victims of abuse
...the voice to speak for justice for the vulnerable
...the hands to work to free enslaved persons

Read this month's STOP TRAFFICKING! Anti Human Trafficking Newsletter for information, resources, advocacy and action ideas.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny are sponsors of this Anti Slavery & Human Trafficking newsletter as the liberating charism of out Foundress, Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey, urges us to reach out to these dehumanizing situations with a commitment to fight against slavery in our world and to promote the dignity of each person.

Click here for the January Stop Trafficking! Newsletter

2018 National Migration Week

National Migration Week

January 7 - 14, 2018

National Migration Week provides the church in the United States an opportunity to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking.

This year’s theme, Many Journeys, One Family draws attention to the fact that each of our families have a migration story, some recent and others in the distant past. Regardless of where we are and where we came from, we remain part of the human family and are called to live in solidarity with one another.

Take time to share your ‘migration story’ and those of others.  Read Pope Francis’ Message for the 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees and the Holy Father’s 2018 World Day of Peace entitled, Migrants and refugees: men and women in search of peace.

Prayer of Pope Francis’ for Migrants and Refugees

Merciful God and Father of all, wake us from the slumber of indifference, open our eyes to their suffering, and free us from the insensitivity born of worldly comfort and self-centeredness.

Inspire us, as nations, communities and individuals, to see that those who come to our shores are our brothers and sisters.

May we share with them the blessings we have received from Your hand, and recognize that together, as one human family, we are all migrants, journeying in hope to You, our true home, where every tear will be wiped away, where we will be at peace and safe in Your embrace.

Excerpted from Pope Francis’ Prayer for Migrants at the Port of Lesbos, 4/16/2016